Mike Karakas

Michael George Karakas (November 13, 1910 – May 2, 1992) was an American professional ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the league's first American-born and -trained goaltender. He played eight seasons with the Chicago Black Hawks and appeared in two Stanley Cup Finals. In 1938, he helped Chicago, who had a .411 winning percentage in the regular season, win the Stanley Cup, playing with a steel-toed boot on one foot in the last two games of the Finals after he had broken it in the last game of the Semi-finals. He is one of the charter members of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

Biography

Karakas was born in Aurora, Minnesota, to a Greek American family, and grew up in nearby Eveleth. He and Frank Brimsek, who also became a goaltender in the NHL, were battery mates for their high school baseball team, with Karakas catching and Brimsek pitching.

Karakas played for the Chicago Black Hawks for eight seasons between 1935 and 1946. In his first season, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's best rookie, after posting a 1.85 goals-against-average and nine shutouts in 48 games. He had been invited to play for the Black Hawks because their regular goaltender, Lorne Chabot, was injured. After posting four wins and three shutouts in four games, the Black Hawks made Karakas their starting goaltender; Chabot was later traded to the Montreal Maroons. After losing five of its six first games with an all-American roster, some Canadian players were added, and the team finished the season with a 14–25–9 record for a .411 winning percentage.

In the playoffs, Karakas suffered a broken toe just before the start of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Black Hawks substituted Alfie Moore for Karakas in the first game. After the first game, Moore was ruled ineligible, and the Black Hawks lost the next game. Karakas returned with a steel-toed boot and won the next two games, leading the Black Hawks to the Stanley Cup. He returned to the Black Hawks full time in 1944 and spent two more seasons with them, then returned to the AHL for two more seasons before retiring.

Karakas had 28 shutouts in the regular season and three in the playoffs in his NHL career. In five of his eight seasons in Chicago Karakas appeared in all 48 games. In 1973, Karakas was named a charter member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, located in his hometown of Eveleth.

Personal life Karakas's younger brother Tommy played college hockey at Illinois, with whom he won a championship in 1943.

Awards and achievements Selected to the AHA First All-Star Team in 1935. Calder Memorial Trophy winner in 1936. Stanley Cup champion in 1938. Calder Cup champion in 1940. Selected to the AHL First All-Star Team in 1941. Selected to the AHL Second All-Star Team in 1943. Selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1945. Inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular season Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T Min GA SO GAA GP W L Min GA SO GAA 1930–31 Chicago Shamrocks AHA 8 5 2 0 435 16 0 2.21 — — — — — — — 1931–32 Chicago Shamrocks AHA 45 29 11 5 2624 65 9 1.59 4 3 1 242 10 0 2.48 1932–33 St. Louis Flyers AHA 43 23 19 1 2702 85 5 1.89 4 2 2 284 6 1 1.27 1933–34 Tulsa Oilers AHA 48 23 25 0 2918 110 7 2.26 4 2 2 260 7 1 1.62 1934–35 Tulsa Oilers AHA 41 20 17 4 2640 77 4 1.52 2 0 2 130 8 0 3.69 1935–36 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 21 19 8 2990 92 9 1.85 2 1 1 120 7 0 3.50 1936–37 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 14 27 7 2978 131 5 2.64 — — — — — — — 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 14 25 9 2980 139 1 2.80 8 6 2 525 15 2 1.71 1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 12 28 8 2988 132 5 2.65 — — — — — — — 1939–40 Providence Reds IAHL 14 7 5 2 860 43 1 3.00 8 6 2 545 21 2 2.31 1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 17 7 9 1 1050 58 0 3.31 — — — — — — — 1939–40 Montreal Canadiens NHL 5 0 4 1 310 18 0 3.48 — — — — — — — 1940–41 Providence Reds AHL 56 31 21 4 3540 171 0 2.97 4 1 3 279 13 0 2.60 1941–42 Providence Reds AHL 56 17 32 7 3470 237 1 4.10 — — — — — — — 1941–42 New Haven Eagles AHL 1 0 1 0 60 7 0 7.00 — — — — — — — 1941–42 Springfield Indians AHL — — — — — — — — 3 0 2 160 7 0 2.63 1942–43 Providence Reds AHL 56 27 27 2 3430 216 2 3.78 2 0 2 130 7 0 3.23 1943–44 Providence Reds AHL 24 6 15 3 1440 67 0 3.63 — — — — — — — 1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 26 12 9 5 1560 79 3 3.04 9 4 5 549 24 1 2.62 1944–45 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 12 29 7 2880 187 4 3.90 — — — — — — — 1945–46 Chicago Black Hawks NHL 48 22 19 7 2880 166 1 3.46 4 0 4 240 26 0 6.50 1946–47 Providence Reds AHL 62 21 31 10 3720 266 0 4.29 — — — — — — — 1947–48 Providence Reds AHL 2 1 1 0 120 7 0 3.50 — — — — — — — NHL totals 336 114 169 53 20,616 1002 28 2.92 23 11 12 1434 72 3 3.01